Movie

National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art

2010★ 8.0 · 12h 25mDramaComedy

Overview

National Theatre Live’s 2010 broadcast of Alan Bennett’s acclaimed play The Habit of Art, with Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings, and Frances de la Tour, returns to cinemas as part of the National Theatre's 50th anniversary celebrations. Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, Death in Venice, seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W H Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for 25 years, they are observed and interrupted by, amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station. Alan Bennett’s play is as much about the theatre as it is about poetry or music. It looks at the unsettling desires of two difficult men, and at the ethics of biography. It reflects on growing old, on creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion’s spent: ultimately, on the habit of art. One of the first five episodes also released on terrestrial TV on a 2009 BBC TV series titled "National Theatre Live".

Trailer

Trailer · National Theatre Live 50th Anniversary Encore Screenings: The Habit of Art trailer

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Images

Backdrops & posters from TMDB

3 images

Cast

Alex Jennings
as Henry / Benjamin Britten

Richard Griffiths
as Fitz / W. H. Auden

Adrian Scarborough
as Donald / Humphrey Carpenter

Frances de la Tour
as Kay

Stephen Wight
as Tim / Stuart

John Heffernan
as George

Elliot Levey
as Neil

Philip Childs
as Brian

Martin Chamberlain
as Ralph

Barbara Kirby
as Joan

Tom Attwood
as Tom

Laurence Belcher
as Young Boy